Another excellent post! You've summed up sub -30 perfectly.

The gloves+mitts tip is an excellent one. I wear Helly Hansen poly glove liners under MEC 3 finger cycling mitts. It's nice to be able to take the mitts off and be semi dexterous without having to worry about sticking to anything frozen even if that's just a metal zipper pull. I've melted my last few pair...fire is deceptively hot, especially in the cold. I've carried a spare pair ever since the first time I did that!

Thanks again for the tip on the firearms. I'd be lying if I told you I haven't been thinking about a Mossberg 500 as a versatile and affordable first gun. The more we talk about guns in the cold, the more I wonder how the break action of a weapon like a Savage 24C would fare the cold...seems like it would have the fewest moving parts to freeze up...an important thing to consider when you factor our 6+ months of freezing weather in Alberta.